A base transceiver station (BTS) transmits a radio frequency (RF) signal, which may be reflected, and/or attenuated by various obstacles and surrounding objects while propagating though a transmission medium. Each of these reflections forms an individual distinct path, or path. As a result, a mobile receiver receives a plurality of individual distinct versions of the transmitted signal, at a plurality of distinct time instants. Each of the received plurality of individual distinct versions of the transmitted signal is associated with an individual distinct path and is referred to as an individual distinct path signal. A time instant associated with an individual distinct path signal, and a time instant associated with a subsequent individual distinct path signal relate to the time offset of receipt of these individual distinct path signals. Several of the plurality of individual distinct path signals may be received at a received signal power level that may vary among the received plurality of individual distinct path signals. A time offset may vary among the received plurality of individual distinct path signals. For example, a time offset associated with an nth individual distinct path signal, and an (n+1)th individual distinct path signal, may differ from a time offset associated with an mth individual distinct path signal, and a (m+1)th individual distinct path signal, for m≠n. A measure of a time offset may be referred to as temporal proximity.
The plurality of individual distinct path signals that may be received at the mobile receiver may be referred to as multipath signals, or a multipath. A medium through which a transmitted RF signal may be propagated is referred to as the RF channel, or a channel. Transmission impairments, or impairments, may be present in the channel that may introduce distortion, interference, and/or distortion as the transmitted RF signal propagates through the channel. The presence of transmission impairments may increase the difficulty of recovering a transmitted RF signal at a mobile receiver based on corresponding received multipath signals. The channel may be characterized by its RF bandwidth and whether the channel comprises a single path, or a multipath (frequency selective fading channel). A channel that comprises a single path may be referred to as a “frequency flat fading channel.” A channel that comprises a multipath may be referred to as a “frequency selective fading channel.”